Chapter 8

Martial Arts or Magical Arts

Spring Semester

Carl pulled up to the curb in front of Laura's house. She leaned over the console to give him a kiss, and then jumped out to rush into her home. Carl hit the window down button.

"Hey Laura! Come over tonight and we can study together."

"Okay, I'll call you later to let you know, see you!"

He watched her hurry into her house. She was a great friend. If she decided not to come over he would get with his Uncle Rick to see if there was anything useful they could do for a couple of hours.

Then it hit him! He turned his car around and headed to his Uncle's house. Peggy was great with CAD software. Her plans for the garden for Carl's house were in his workshop; as soon as spring arrived the three of them were going to convert their backyard into fairy paradise.

But right now, he needed to design a factory that could build Power Capsule that nobody could duplicate. Then he would build a flying car! The Power Capsules would power them!

His brakes squealed as he stopped in front of his Aunt and Uncle house. It was Friday an unusual day to start school but with the shake up in the Department of Education the rules were that school had to start the first weekday after the New Year. So the best the school district could do was start school on the 2^nd a Friday. Peggy would love his suggestion that she do a sleep over.

He did not run to the front door! He moved a little fast but he didn't run! Carl stood there for hours pounding on the door while holding the bell button down.

His Uncle jerked the door open, "Carl! What's wrong, boy^"

"Peggy^ Where are you Peggy?" He hurried into the house looking for Peggy. Carl did not see his Aunt step into the living room as he headed for the upstairs.

"PEGGY!" He hollered at the top of lungs. By that time he was running up the stairs.

"Carl! Wait boy, she's not up there."

He had made it to the top of the staircase before what his Uncle had said made sense. PEGGY was not here, somebody had stolen her!

"Who took Peggy?" He screamed as he almost fell down the stairs. "Tell me! Who did it? I'll reduce them to sub-atomic particles, and then reduce those to quanta of energy!"

"Carl, son calm down, nobody took Peggy. Its Friday night, the 2^th, tonight is the City Martial Arts for juniors tournament. She went with her class at the dojo, we'll be leaving soon. Now what is wrong, that you're flying around without wings?"

"Oh, I was going to get her to come over for a sleepover. I have some idea and I need her skills with CAD software."

"I thought you two had finished the designs for the garden?"

"Oh yeah, got the plans, and put them away until spring. This is something new! Hey Uncle Rick! I'm going to need a factory! I'm going to start making Power Capsules similar to our power supply in the warehouse!"

"Settle down Carl, you're jumping around like a rabbit in a cage full of Dobermans!"

"Oh, sorry but the idea just popped into my mind."

"Well you see, I know how to make a power source that needs no fuel, and will basically last forever. What I am going to do it make them so they don't last forever. They will be simple, easy to manufacture capsules, easy to assemble and to operate. But, if you take them apart, they cease to function."

"Each one must first be energized here in our factory."

"They will be two halves of different conducting metals, with an insulator between them that acts as the control. Twist it; turns it on and increases power by one order of magnitude. The insulator will have a plastic film that separates the two halves. The whole thing is a farce, a distraction; it works because I will make it work."

"I need Peggy to help me design the capsules and the manufacturing process to put them together. We will need to design and build an alternator to convert the pure DC current to AC with a selection of current and cycles."

"Well that all sounds good, but now we need to get to the Civic Center. That's where the tournament is being held.'

"You mean Peggy is really going to compete? Why?"

"Oh Carl, I know you were never into that competition thing, but Peggy wants something that says she was good, great or the best."

"Okay, it was just that all those jocks always seemed like bullies to me."

"You know, you could compete also. Your Sensei will be there, and can clear you as qualified. You did get the yellow belt for your knowledge of the Kato's."

"Nah it's too late. I'd have to get my parents to sign the application form."

"No it's not too late. I can fax them the forms, they can sign them and then fax them back to us at the center. Just make sure you have your Gi in you car."

Carl hesitated, and learn the meaning of the saying 'he who hesitates is lost.' The parking lot at the Civic Center was a mad house; hundreds of people filled the sidewalks. The entrance to the Civic Center was crammed with people trying to get inside.

He walked with his Aunt and Uncle. "Where do we go?"

They gave no answers; maybe they didn't know the answer. But soon Uncle Rick pulled them out of the people headed to the auditorium. Carl at first had no idea where they were going, but finally spotted the signs directing them to the Tournament Organizers. They entered a huge office with dozens of people examining papers and charts.

"Yes, may I help?" asked a man sitting at a desk.

"We need to get an application filed and fees paid. I had the application faxed to this ofice."

"Name of the applicatant?"

"Carl Black, 16 years old, yellow belt aikido, Japanese Jujitsu, Mixed Martial arts, Inoue dojo of Tulsa."

The man looked up at him, studying him.

"Master Inoue rarely teaches the mixed arts. I hope you honor his teaching here today."

Sensei Inoue was one of the few people outside his family to whom he gave his full respect. One reason was how he had evaluated Carl the first time they met. The man got up, and walked across the room, where a bank of printers was located. He quickly returned with the application that Carl's parents had signed and faxed to the center.

Sitting down, he looked over the application, and then looked up at them. "Everything appears to be in order. Your class division in Jujitsu will be starting in one hour; you must report to the weigh-in area as soon as possible, fully geared up. Gi, protective cups and shin protectors. For mixed, you will need head gear, gloves and foot protection."

With that he dismissed them. Uncle Rick, who seemed to know the place like his warehouse, led them away. Aunt Clara was looking all over the place. Uncle Rick dropped Carl off at the locker room, telling him they would wait at the entrance to the auditorium."

The locker room attendant signed him in and gave him a locker, towel and a lock with a key. He charged ten dollars, which made Carl dig through his papers to find that Uncle Rick had paid the $150 application fee for three different divisions.

He put all his clothes and extra gear in the locker and locked up. Finding his Aunt and Uncle at the entrance way from the locker room, he handed his key over to them. At that time a man in a black gi with a Red Dragon embroidered on the back show up and asked for his papers.

"See that area over there? Find an empty spot, kneel there, and wait until your name is called. At that time come to your feet. Bow to the judge's table over there, report to the nearest official, who will wear a red sash around their waist. Have you ever competed in an open tournament before?"

"No Sensei." Carl said and bowed to the man.

"Hum that's good and bad. You have no bad habits to unlearn, but you have no good ones to help you. The most important rule is always show courtesy. Bow to all official, bow to your opponent before fighting, and after winning or losing. A person who is always courteous is never dishonorable. Go!"

Carl bowed, turned away, and walked over to the area the official had shown him. He found an empty spot between some white belts and yellow and orange belts. He then took a kneeling position. He knelt there for a few minutes; then noticed some people stretching and limbering up. He had not done that! He knew that it was a real no-no not to have his muscles ready when facing an opponent. He came to his feet bowed to the judge's table then turned to look for the nearest official. Finding one watching the people stretching, he walked over to him, and bowed as soon as he had the man's attention. "Sensei, I have not had a chance to warm up. My I do so?"

He looked at Carl's belt then asked, "Which division are you competing in?"

"I will compete in three, Japanese Jujitsu, Aikido and mixed martial arts weight 140 lbs and 16 years."

"Very good! The Jujitsu will be first and very soon. Go get warmed up."

Carl took a position at the end of a line of people. Then for the next sixteen minutes he twisted, stretched and fell."

"Attention everybody! Take your positions!"

Carl looked around all the people on the floor were exiting the mats. He headed over to where he had previously knelt, but before he got there, he could see the line was longer and the space between belts and white belts had moved down the wall. He finally made a space between the color belts and the whites and knelt.

The competition started, and right away he saw that they were doing four matches at a time. It was white against white all four fights. Carl listened as the guys to his left discussed each match near them. They basically tore down each of the fighters. To hear them, none of them were any good.

His own opinion was the fighters were fair. None of them would give him any problems.

The guy to his right must have heard his name, as he came to his feet bowed, then approached the nearest official. He was directed to the far end of the auditorium. Carl followed the fight as much as he could from his awkward angle. The fight went to full three falls. His neighbor won.

Carl watched as the winner was directed to another official who took the winner over to a table where something was done. He brought his attention back to his area of the auditorium. That was when he noticed that the whites were thinning out. If you lost with no falls you left. If you won one fall of the three, then you came back to the kneeling position, and waited some more.

Then those were called a second time to face off with one of the others that had taken one fall. This time, if you did not win the match you were gone. Carl was thinking that probably meant he be out of here quickly.

He sat up and looked around; Peggy's name had just been called. There she was on the far side, darn.

They trained at different times so he really had no idea how good she was. He watched closely. She was facing a girl that was a little larger then she was. They bowed, and the other girl jumped her, grabbed her Gi and did a move into a hip throw. Just as the other girl went for the twist to lift her up on the hip, Peggy did a full leg sweep. The other girl was down!

Wow, that was good.

"Carl Black, yellow belt, Sensei Inoue Tulsa Dojo."

He quickly got to his feet, bowed to the judges, then stepped over to the nearest official. "Carl Black, Sensei." He said with a bow.

"Take your position on the black 'x'."

He moved over to where a Black taped 'x' was on the floor. There, 15 feet away was a Red 'x'. Another yellow belt contestant took his position on 'X'.

"Attention, this is two falls out of three. A partial fall counts as a half fall. You will bow, when I say "Fight" you will come off the 'x' the match begins. If you leave the circle it counts as a fall."

He backed away slightly "Fight". Carl had watched enough of the other matches to know the best way to go, was quickly engage. So he was moving as the word coming out of the official's mouth. Then he did the really unexpected, Carl went for an arm bar. With that firmly in his grasp, he pivoted, and his opponent went down on his face. Carl stood there holding the bar, until the official looked closely at what he had and said, "Break, first fall."